Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages

Status Reports

Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - September)

(Work In Progress: output at 16/10/2025 21:47:31)

Rationale for this Project

• See my Christian page¹ and onward links from there for an explanation of how I got in to and out of evangelical Christianity. This is still a live issue for me, and the reason I originally undertook formal philosophical training.
• The connection to my current philosophical researches arises from the standard religious hope that resurrection – or some other form of post-mortem survival – is possible. This is a cornerstone of religious claims and expectations, at least in the Abrahamic religions, from those of suicide bombers to those of more pacific persons. I wish to go back to the considerations that originally motivated Locke and research the metaphysical possibility of resurrection, or other post-mortem survival, for beings such as us. My current opinion is that resurrection for human beings is metaphysically impossible₂, given that substance dualism is false.
• In late September 2010 I took the Philosophy of Religion³ Module of a 2-year part time MA in Philosophy and Religion at Heythrop College London (Defunct), University of London. Follow the links for my Personal Statement⁴, Interview Write-up⁵, and Course Outline⁶. I decided not to proceed with the MA but do intend to follow up on₇ the many issues raised.
• During 2016 I assisted with the Appendices of my friend’s PhD Thesis on the Narrative Structure of the Acts of the Apostles, building a website. See "Mansell (Peter) - Bottom Up Reading of Acts".
• In August 2017 I was asked by Michael J. Alter to review pre-publication his book on the theology of the Resurrection. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too much work, and I only commented on the first section.
• In mid-23Q3 I decided to focus as much as I could on my Thesis, so – temporarily at least – axed all ‘distractions’, including this project. However, I’ve decided it’s too important to ignore. Read on!

Summary of Progress during July - September 2025

1. I spent 37.25 hours in 25Q3 on this Project, or related work (390 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2024). That's 71.4% of the planned effort (157.5% YTD). Overall, 5.1% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 12.6% YTD) - as against 6.5% planned (7.7% YTD).
2. I had reduced my time allocated to this project down from 7 hours to 4 hours per week in 25Q3 but only achieved about 70% of this. This was partly down to various matters, listed below …
3. The mid-week Bible Study at St. John’s is still in abeyance.
4. In the early part of the Quarter I continued my ‘original language’ Bible-reading – I have been reading through the LXX in Greek and the OT in Hebrew and a second reading through the Greek NT (both of the latter using Bibleworks) at a leisurely pace₈ but then intermitted again. I’d got as far as reading 2 Maccabees in the LXX and 1 Kings in the Hebrew. For some reason I’ve found the Greek of 2 Corinthians rather difficult (and the text a bit of a rant).
5. This is currently paused until I’ve had time to improve my Hebrew and Greek grammar. I’ve been using "Lambdin (Thomas) - Introduction to Biblical Hebrew", but the time is booked to my Languages project. Not much this Quarter, though.
6. I completed the very enjoyable and enlightening "Jobes (Karen H.) & Silva (Moises) - Invitation to the Septuagint".
7. I also attended the OBT Conference on the ‘Upper Room’ discourses in John’s Gospel.
8. Further details follow:-
   Religion (Total Hours = 26.75)
   • Below is a table showing the progress on my project to read the OT, LXX & NT in the original Hebrew and Greek.
   • As of the beginning of August 2025, this project is in abeyance (again). I've decided to enhance my grammatical knowledge of Greek and Hebrew before proceding further.
   • The table below has been corrected to reflect the second intermission. The Revised End Date is calculated as 'today' plus the amount of time needed to complete the tasks at the rate achieved during the second period of activity. Hence, it will advance by one day a day until I restart.
   • The explanation after the first intermission is as below.
     1. I'm on my first pass through the OT & LXX and my second pass through the NT.
     2. I intermitted this project between August 2023 and April 2024 (inclusive; ie. 9 months); as well as deferring completion by 9 months, this has thrown out my completion-date algorithms somewhat. For now, I've amended the Completion Aims to reflect the intermission.
     3. I've calculated and used the daily rate of progress achieved prior to intermission to calculate the estimated completion date.
     4. I don't now have as much time to spare, so - as expected - this rate has fallen since the restart.
     5. I've therefore also calculated and used the daily rate of progress achieved since intermission to calculate the revised completion date.
   • I've also read through the Koran, but mostly in English. One day I'll try to read the Koran in Arabic, maybe. Progress on this, and on my first run-through of the NT, is recorded in versions of this report prior to 25Q3.
     

     Testament	Total Verses	Start Date	Intermission	Restart Date	Restart at	Elapsed	Read	V / D	Since Restart	Last Verse Read	Aim	Estimate	Ahead / Behind	Revised
     OT	23,143	13/05/2021	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	1 Samuel 9:25	808	7,469	9.2	4.2	1 Kings 10:22	31/12/2028	15/11/2029	319 Days Behind	10/10/2034
     LXX	28,986	13/05/2021	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	2 Esdras 5:3	808	12,596	15.6	5.9	2 Maccabees 10:5	31/03/2027	16/03/2028	351 Days Behind	19/03/2032
     NT2	7,956	26/12/2022	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	John 8:22	216	3,258	15.1	6.2	2 Corinthians 12:6	31/03/2025	20/02/2026	326 Days Behind	21/08/2026

     
     
   • Bibleworks Greek NT: 2 Corinthians (Read, 1.25 hours)
   • Bibleworks Hebrew OT: 1 Kings (Read, 2.75 hours)
     → See "Bibleworks - Bibleworks: OT & NT" (4 hours)
   • "Dodd (C.H.) - The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel" (Read / Write, 2.25 hours)
   • "Ferguson (Matthew) - March to Martyrdom! (Down the Yellow Brick Road…)" (Read / Write, 2.25 hours)
   • "Jobes (Karen H.) & Silva (Moises) - Invitation to the Septuagint" (Read, 9.25 hours)
   • "Lanier (Gregory R.) & Ros (William A.) - Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition - Volume 1" (Read, 2.25 hours)
   • "Mills (Paul) - The False Religion of Climate Alarmism" (Read / Write, 6.5 hours)
   • "Stackhouse (Ian) - The Problem with Christian Zionism: A Historical and Theological Critique" (Read, 0.25 hours)
   Religion Background (Total Hours = 10.5)
   1. Religion Background - Admin
      • 25Q2 Status Reports (1.75 hours)
        → See "Admin - Religion - Admin" (1.75 hours)
   2. Religion Background - Discussions (Total Hours = 8.75)
      • Interaction - Discussions with Mike, Sylvia & Julie (3.5 hours)
        → See "Interaction - Discussion with Mike" (3.5 hours)
      • Interaction - Discussions with Pete, Caro & Julie (0.5 hours)
      • Interaction OBT Conference on John's Gospel (4.5 hours)
        → See "Interaction - Discussions with Pete" (5 hours)
      • Sylvia re Sumerian Cosmological Disk (0.25 hours)
        → See "Interaction - Religion - Discussions" (0.25 hours)
9. Progress (if any) in the current quarter can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List⁹, and YTD in the current & future “automatic” editions of this report.

Plans for the Near Future

• I’ve further reduced the time allocated to this project in 25Q4 to 2 hours / week to reflect the fact that my Bible-reading project is in abeyance.
• The items in the long list below mostly won’t get a look in.
• The items in the list below are those I’d like to address if time allows.
  
  1. Philosophy of Religion:
     1. "Antony (Louise M.) - Philosophers without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life": Continue reading,
     2. "Davis (Stephen T.) - The Mad/Bad/God Trilemma: A Reply to Daniel Howard-Snyder": Annotate,
     3. "Ginn (Roy) - According to the Scriptures": Complete write-up
     4. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - Does Faith Entail Belief": Read,
     5. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - The Skeptical Christian": Read,
     6. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - Was Jesus Mad, Bad, Or God?…Or Merely Mistaken?": Annotate,
     7. "Hume (David) - Of Miracles": Annotate,
     8. "Insole (Christopher J.) - Realism and Anti-Realism": Read,
     9. "YouTube - Video - Atheists deny reality": Annotate,
     10. "YouTube - Video - 'It’s impossible for atheists to do this!' …but It’s Not": Annotate.
  2. Science & the Bible:
     1. "Instone-Brewer (David) - Science and the Bible: Modern Insights for an Ancient Text",
     2. "Loke (Andrew Ter Ern) - The Origin of Humanity and Evolution: Science and Scripture in Conversation", and
     3. "Plantinga (Alvin) & Dennett (Daniel) - Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?"
  3. Middle East:
     1. "Chapman (Colin) - The Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict",
     2. "Chapman (Colin) - Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine",
     3. "Grossman (David), Schoffman (Stuart) - Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson"
     4. "Stackhouse (Ian) - Beyond Christian Zionism: A Travelogue of a Former Idealogue: A Travelogue of a Former Ideologue": Read
  4. Bible Reading:
     1. "Bibleworks - Bibleworks: OT & NT", and
     2. "Lanier (Gregory R.) & Ros (William A.) - Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition - Volume 1".
  5. Qur'an / Islam:
     1. "Asad ( Muhammad), Qur'an - The Message of the Quran: The Full Account of the Revealed Arabic Text Accompanied by Parallel Transliteration",
     2. "Burton (John), Qur'an - The Collection of the Qur'an".
     3. "Jones (Alan), Qur'an - Arabic Through the Qur'an", Note₁₀
     4. "Omar (Abdul Mannan), Qur'an - The Dictionary of the Holy Quran: Arabic Words - English Meanings",
     5. "Qur'an - Easy Quran: Arabic Text With Word For Word English Translation",
     6. "Wansbrough (John), Rippin (Andrew), Qur'an - Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation".
  6. Background:
     1. Aeon: Read & annotate papers as they arise
     2. "Dolganov (Anna), Cotton (Hannah M.), Etc. - Forgery and Fiscal Fraud in Iudaea and Arabia on the Eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt": Read
     3. "Finkelstein (Israel) & Silberman (Neil Asher) - The Bible Unearthed": Continue reading
     4. "Grossman (David), Schoffman (Stuart) - Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson": Read
     5. "Instone-Brewer (David) - Techniques and Assumptions in Jewish Exegesis before 70 CE": Read
     6. "Longenecker (Richard) - Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period": Read
     7. "Moyise (Steve) - Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture?": Read
     8. "Taylor (Joan E.) - Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times Via Monty Python's Life of Brian": Review KCL Conference videos
     9. Incorporate downloaded David Instone-Brewer papers into my database.

Summary of Progress to Date

I’ve hived off the history to a separate document¹¹, which still requires a major update. It hasn’t been touched since 2010.

---

In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 2:

• Or if not strictly impossible – rather unlikely, as the candidates for enabling some sort of physical continuity – from luz bones to “corpse swapping” – have multiple problems.
• However, there are some interesting ideas by Dean Zimmerman, most recently in "Zimmerman (Dean) - Bodily Resurrection: The Falling Elevator Model Revisited", that argue the contrary.
• Also, transhumanists – who are almost following a religion – are often hopeful of post-mortem survival. I have no metaphysical worries about “cryonic suspension”, and subsequent resuscitation, but think that uploading is incoherent.

Footnote 7:

• This pious hope has been sitting unactioned for 15 years now!
• The proximate cause of my failure was missing a deadline for my essay on the Ontological Argument, but a more serious reason was that it was all a waste of time (for me, given my research interests). Peter Vardy had warned me about anno domini, with the claim that original work after the age of 65 is unlikely. I hope this is false, as I’ve ignored the warning, and have now exceeded the following milestone of 70!

Footnote 8:

• I’ve updated the Functor that performs the ‘completion date’ calculations to show two completion dates based on reading rates before and since I intermitted.
• The table that shows plans and progress can be viewed above.

Footnote 10:

• Time to be booked to my Languages Project.

---

Table of the Previous 12 Versions of this Note: (of 96)

Date	Length	Title
15/07/2025 10:14:53	14618	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - June)
07/04/2025 00:15:50	14559	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - March)
01/02/2025 00:28:48	14256	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - December)
10/10/2024 00:47:31	12451	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - September)
11/07/2024 23:08:10	11103	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - June)
15/04/2024 00:34:34	6591	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - March)
01/04/2024 20:08:10	6923	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - December)
04/10/2023 21:59:02	7265	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - September)
06/07/2023 00:43:12	10254	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - June)
30/04/2023 01:06:14	10345	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - March)
10/01/2023 23:35:31	9685	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - December)
10/10/2022 22:32:10	11242	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - September)

---

Note last updated	Reference for this Topic	Parent Topic
16/10/2025 21:50:29	519 (Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - September))	Status: Summary (2025 - September - DRAFT)

---

Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Heythrop - MA Philosophy and Religion	Heythrop - Personal Statement	Heythrop - Philosophy of Religion	McDade_100729	Ontological Argument
Status: Languages (2025 - September)	Status: Philosophy of Religion (Summary of Progress to Date)	Status: Summary Task List (2025: October)	Theo Todman's Christian Page	Transhumanism
Uploading

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

---

Summary of Notes Citing This Note

Aeon Papers - Summary Document: 2017-2018	Immortality	Life After Death	Religion	Resurrection
Status: Consciousness Studies (2023 - September)	Status: Languages (2025 - September)	Status: Philosophy of Religion (Summary of Progress to Date)	Status: Priority Task List (2025 - October)	Status: Summary (2025 - September - DRAFT), 2
Status: Summary Task List (2025: October)	Status: Summary Task List (YTD: 25Q4 - 26Q1)	Theo Todman's Christian Page	Website - Progress to Date (2025 - October), 2, 3, 4	Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

---

Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Immortality	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Life After Death	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Religion	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Resurrection	Paper		Yes

---

Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025

---

© Theo Todman, June 2007 - Oct 2025.	Please address any comments on this page to theo@theotodman.com.	File output: 16/10/2025 21:50:30 Website Maintenance Dashboard
Return to Top of this Page	Return to Theo Todman's Philosophy Page	Return to Theo Todman's Home Page

---